1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a waterproof water-vapor-permeable laminated structure obtained by laminating a porous base material and a thin thermoplastic resin film, not having pin holes through which a liquid passes, in which the feeling of the porous base material is not so much degraded, and which can be used as a waterproof material or a water-vapor-permeable material for a wrapping material, fabric, a medical material, a hygienic packaging material, and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, methods of laminating a porous base material such as fabric, unwoven fabric, or paper and a thermoplastic resin film are classified in three types. In the first type, a thermoplastic resin film is manufactured beforehand by, e.g., a T-die casting method or an inflation method and then is adhered to a porous base material by an adhesive. In this method, best waterproof property can be obtained because pin holes are not formed. However, since the number of manufacturing steps is increased to increase manufacturing cost, applications are limited.
The second method is a so-called extrusion-laminating method in which a melted thermoplastic resin film is extruded directly on a porous base material and then laminated and cooled at the same time, thereby obtaining a laminated structure. This method is widely used because the laminated structure can be obtained by one step at low cost. However, in this method, a melted thermoplastic resin with low viscosity is pressed and adhered to a porous base material. Therefore, the thermoplastic resin enters into the porous material, or the melted thermoplastic resin film is finely broken by undulations or fibrous projections on the porous base material surface. As a result, pin holes tend to be formed. For this reason, in order to prevent pin holes and obtain good waterproof property, the thickness of the resin is increased. For example, in order to obtain good waterproof property in a laminated structure of unwoven fabric/polyethylene, the thickness of polyethylene must be 40 .mu. or more, and preferably, 60 .mu. or more. However, when the thickness of the resin is increased, the soft feeling of the porous base material such as fabric or unwoven fabric is naturally degraded. That is, the feeling of the obtained laminated structure is stiff and hard, thereby reducing the value as a product.
In the third method, a thermoplastic resin is dissolved in an organic solvent and coated on a porous base material by, e.g., gravure coating or roll coating, and then the solvent is volatilized. In this method, the solution penetrates into the porous base material, or pin holes tend to be formed mostly by entrapment of bubbles or volatilization of the solvent. Therefore, this method is most unsuitable for use in forming a waterproof layer and hence is generally used to obtain a sealing effect. Furthermore, in consideration of strike-through of the solution, porous base materials which can be used in this method are limited.
As described above, a laminated structure of a porous base material and a thermoplastic resin film, having good waterproof property without pin holes and maintaining the feeling of the porous base material, has not been obtained yet. Therefore, a strong demand has arisen for such a laminated structure.